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Good morning parents and students! Today I thought I’d give you an update on our new curriculum this year for literacy. Our school district recently adopted the Reach for Reading and Reach for Writing curriculum. In my eyes, literacy is a piece of every single subject. We write and read and comprehend in everything from social studies to math these days. Students need to have as many tools in their tool boxes… Read More

Looking back on this past quarter, my views on how technology can be used in a classroom have certainly changed! For one, standardized testing is completely electronic nowadays. If we are not testing our students regularly using technology, is the standardized testing going to test for subject knowledge or just how to use technology? While I saw how technology could be used to play learning games (such as http://www.ABCYA.com), I never thought… Read More

When it comes to assessment, technology can be a strong tool to keep learning hand in hand with student progress. Not only does technology allow for immediate feedback to the teacher as well as the students using it, but it can adjust to fit the needs of the student at that time.

I came across this article on the Cult of Pedagogy that goes into detail on using playlists as classroom differentiation. At first I was confused. Playlists? Like music? But then as I began reading the article I found it was referencing something completely different.

Environment is everything when it comes to setting up at the beginning of the year. How you set up your classroom can create an inviting environment that lets your students know a little about you before you even begin. You don’t want to give the wrong idea about what the school year will look like or what to expect.

The second post in this series will include some of my future plans for classroom procedures, record keeping, and family interactions. There is entirely so much to think about, even a year away from having my own classroom, that it’s nice to get some of my thoughts written down for future reference.

As a pre-service teacher I am SO excited even thinking of the prospect of setting up a future classroom. That being said, there is so much that goes in to creating a functioning classroom setting for a future room of students. I thought I would share some of my current ideas here as I come across them. Any advice or suggestions from current teachers would be highly appreciated!

Technology brings an aspect of learning to schools and classrooms that brings to life concepts previously only seen in boring textbooks. Textbooks are not interactive and do not give students the ability to explore further. There information found in a textbook is what it is. Through the implementation of technology, students can solve real-world problems and make connections with people elsewhere in the world. Instead of staying stuck within the pages of a book, students… Read More

I was told once by my Cooperative Teacher (CT) during student teaching that she often wrote the answers for certain students on tests. It wasn’t that she gave them the answer, but they dictated what they wanted to say. They struggled so much with hand-writing that in many cases the test became frustrating and overwhelming. It wasn’t because they didn’t know the answers, but because they couldn’t write fast or accurately enough to be… Read More

Teacher: _Julie Heffernan__ Subject/Lesson Title: __Food Pyramid___ Grade: __1/2__ Curriculum Context/Rationale: The students have not yet had exposure to any nutrition related lessons so far this year. This will be the first of several lessons taught on nutritional needs. This is a Standards-driven, teacher-created lesson. Students might have had exposure in the past through adult influences outside of school or physical education classes. This lesson is important as it is a foundation… Read More